It can be difficult to juggle motherhood with work. The rising demands and pressures of successful careers mean that women are leaving it much later to have children than they did 20 years ago. It's a difficult decision to make, particularly if you know you will have to take a significant chunk of time out to raise your kids. Women are leaving it later and later to embark on motherhood.

And now, for the first time since 1947, it's been revealed that more women over 40 are having than children compared to women in their twenties.

The new figure revealed over 40s in England and Wales had a higher fertility rate for the first time ever, since the 'baby boom' just after the Second World War.

Most women have much more demanding careers than they did back in the 1950s. Plus, financial restraints will also influence their decision to embark on motherhood at a younger age, say the Office for National Statistics who, released the new data.

In 2015 there were 15.2 births for every 1,000 women over the age of 40 compared to 14.5 per 1,000 women under the age of 20.

Ten years before that the rate for women over 40 was 10.8 births compared to 26.4 for under 20s, and in 1995 it was 6.8 compared to 28.5.

The author of the report, statistician Elizabeth McLaren, wrote: 'In most developed countries, women have been increasingly delaying childbearing to later in life, which has resulted in rising fertility rates among older women.

'This may be due to a number of factors such as increased female participation in higher education and the labour force, the increasing importance of a career, the rising costs of childbearing, labour market uncertainty and housing factors.'

The average age for mothers now is 30 years and four months. Just ten years ago, most women would – if they were considering this life choice – decide to have children in their twenties. The general consensus was that even being over 30 was slightly old to have children.

The perceptions have however shifted dramatically, and women are leaving it later and later before they start having kids, with many waiting until they are over 40.

Talking to the Standard, Clare Murphy, from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said: 'The trend towards older motherhood is here to stay, and there are many understandable reasons why women today are waiting longer to start or expand their families than those in previous decades.

'Rather than bemoaning this development, we should seek to understand and support the decisions women make.

'More affordable childcare and improved maternity rights may make it easier for some women to start their families earlier if they wish, but we also need to ensure we have high quality reproductive healthcare services configured to meet women's needs, whatever the age at which they conceive.'

What age were you when you had your children? Is 40 too old to start motherhood?